Neopets: Petpet Adventures

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It's the cutest RPG on the PSP. Full Review.

By Ed Lewis

Neopets: Petpet Adventures defies any expectations for a franchise title and manages to create an action-RPG that largely holds its own. There are still problems that prevent it from becoming a great game, but there is so much potential here that we hope the folks at SCE Studios Santa Monica make a sequel.

While it's probably true that being a Neopets fan will make this game even better, it really doesn't even matter. Fans looking for a light version of Champions of Norrath for the road will find a lot to like here.

The storyline here is pretty ridiculous and, if you don't take it seriously, can be often hilarious. There are four insanely cute Petpets to choose from, each with slightly different attributes. Don't worry about them too much, though. Just pick the cutest one and go since the differences aren't all that effective. Once that's done, you begin the quest to go and retrieve the Wand of wishing from the alternate universe of Petaria where the Petpets can stand on two feet and become a mighty warrior. A very, very cute and mighty warrior, that is.

Once the game begins the general action is very similar to the Norrath games on the PS2. The view is top-down and the Petpets can use melee weapons, bows and arrows, cast spells, block, and munch on some food to get health back. They also have five different attributes that can be developed to make them stronger and faster. The main story is very linear with some side quests along the way that can help to earn money or get new items.

What works here is that there are many different worlds in the quest, each with its own distinct style and feel. Again, the feeling is that of a Norrath game as there is the fire level, the water level, the desert level, the ice level, and even the level that takes place in the clouds. Each level has its own monsters and playing through the game has a solid feeling of being a big adventure even if the storyline is a little goofy and kind of weak. But there is that silly smile on the Petpets' faces that makes up for it.

Adding to the adventure feeling is the surprising level of detail for the items and magic that can be found here. Petpets can have unique items, but even more importantly there is the idea of there being six elements that a Petpet can align itself with: air, dark, earth, fire, light, and water. By focusing on one element, different spells then become available. The elemental alignments can also provide protection against an elemental attack. If a boss' attacks are all dark powers, then a dark defense will soften them up a bit.